Sexual abuse of minor: court sentences Kerala man to 111 yrs' jail
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Thiruvananthapuram: A special fast-track court in Thiruvananthapuram has sentenced a tuition teacher to 111 years rigorous imprisonment for seducing and sexually abusing a class 11 student in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. Judge R Rekha sentenced 44-year-old Manoj, a native of Manacaud, here. He was also fined Rs 1,05,000, and if he failed to pay it, he would have to serve an additional year in prison.
The judge said in her verdict that the crime committed by the accused, a teacher who was also supposed to be the child's guardian, did not deserve any mercy.
The accused's wife committed suicide after finding that he had an extramarital affair with the girl.
The incident linked to the case took place on July 2, 2019, at 10 am. The accused, a government employee, summoned the survivor on the pretext of a special tuition class. When she arrived, he sexually abused her and took pictures of the act on his mobile phone. Though the survivor protested about being filmed, the accused proceeded.
The accused had made attempts of sexual abuse even before that day, but the survivor had not given in.
Following the abuse, the survivor stopped going to tuition because she was afraid. However, the accused's wife found out about the incident, confronted the survivor and scolded her for alleging an extramarital relationship. The accused learnt about this, and an argument broke out between him and his wife, and she hanged herself inside the tuition centre. Later, pictures of the accused and the survivor appeared in the public sphere, and the survivor’s family filed a complaint with the police.
The accused’s phone was recovered when he was arrested, and upon its scientific examination, the visuals of the abuse were also found in it.
Though the accused produced records claiming that he was in his office on the day of the incident, such as attendance details, his phone records suggested otherwise, proving that he was in the tuition centre itself.